Baden-Baden 1925 International Chess Tournament. The Arrival of Hypermodern Chess

382+[1 ad] pages with plates, tables, diagrams and index. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6") bound in original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to spine and cover. Translated and edited by Jimmy Adams. First edition.
For a number of years following the First World War Germany had seen no great international tournaments. Mannheim (1914) was their latest grand-scale tournament which the outbreak of the war had brought to a premature conclusion. Lamenting this sad state of affairs, Dr. Tarrasch approached the municipal authorities of the famous old spa town of Baden Baden, which had hosted the Baden-Baden (1870) event (1) on an international scale. Their response was favorable and the organization of the event was placed in the good doctor's hands. Most of the invitees accepted but both Dr. Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca insisted on large appearance fees which were unable to be met. Other absentees were Milan Vidmar and Geza Maroczy who were unable to attend because of work commitments. The final entry consisted of twenty-one competitors, including Dr. Tarrasch himself. The final result was a great win for Alekhine, foreshadowing his later triumphs at San Remo (1930) and Bled (1931).
Here, "the new, experimental--and frequently extravagant--hypermodern ideas were given full freedom of expression. There was truly an explosion of innovations." In addition, the tournament was of "great historical significance in that it was Alekhine's first outright win in a really great tournament."
The English language tournament book is one of the best. It features all games, introductory pieces by Tarrasch, Tartakower and others as well as two pieces from Alekhine: "The Meran Defence" and "The Theoretical Value of the Tournament." Games are annotated by various players and the Sources of Annotations are provided. A detailed Index of Openings concludes this 382 page book. Tim Zagurskie dubbed this "An Epic Book on an Epic Tournament" finishing his review: "Bottom Line: This book is essential reading. The game themselves are remarkable and the addition of the deep annotations launches this book into the knowledge stratosphere.

Condition: Corners bumped else very good to fine.